


Better Together

by JadeJem



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Is Sunshine, Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Hot Mess Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Post Reveal, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Romance, Romance Awareness Month, SO MUCH FLUFF, YOUR TEETH WILL ROT, my god it's literally just mindless fluff, one year anniversary, relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 14:35:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20083831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeJem/pseuds/JadeJem
Summary: Adrien is stressed, Marinette is flustered, Alya and Nino can't sing, and Hawk Moth isn't involved for once.Literally just a mountain of fluff. I—that's all.





	Better Together

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, loves! Jade here with a piece for this month’s theme: Romance Awareness Month! Beware—major fluff ahead!
> 
> it do be like that
> 
> Enjoy. ;)

“What do you want to do on Saturday?” Chat asked, watching Marinette move about her work station (her desk) from the lounge chaise. 

“Saturday?” Marinette queried distractedly, tongue poking out of her mouth as she searched through her plastic bins. “Saturday…” 

Chat watched in amusement as her head popped up, an “oh!” escaping her mouth as her cheeks colored. 

“Saturday,” she said again, “right. I—I didn’t  _ forget _ —”

“It just slipped your mind,” teased Chat, who pushed off of the chaise lounge and approached Marinette. 

She leaned back against her desk, cheeks still dark when Chat stopped in front of her. “I was focused. It momentarily slipped my mind! I’ve been keeping a planner of ideas for a while now, though.” 

Chat hummed, releasing his transformation under his breath as he placed his hands on Marinette’s hips. He smiled at her fondly before dipping his head to kiss her. 

She rested her hands on his forearms, and the bracelet he’d made for her a year and a half ago brushed his skin. “I would never forget,” she murmured earnestly against his lips, eyes glimmering happily. 

His heart fluttered. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” He backed away before his mind could short-circuit (he never lasted long in close proximity to her). “What was our deal again? Half the day for your things, half the day for mine?” 

Marinette nodded. “Yeah.” She glared playfully at him. “I still can’t believe you made me arm wrestle you for the evening slot; how was I supposed to beat you when you were transformed and I wasn’t?”

Adrien grinned roguishly. “All is fair in love and war, my ladylove.” He winked, lifting her hand and kissing her knuckles reverently. 

“Nng,” Marinette grumbled, flushing scarlet and pushing him away by the nose. 

In retaliation, Adrien dodged her finger and dipped to kiss her jaw, chuckling when she jumped. “Do I make you nervous, my lady?”

He pulled back just far enough to see her wrinkle her nose, but the color hadn’t left her cheeks. “Only as nervous as I make you,” she retorted, using her finger to drag his chin up so his gaze met hers. She winked, and just like that, Adrien was lost. 

“Damn you,” he muttered warmly as his face met her collarbone, too embarrassed to lift his head and meet her gloating smile. 

He departed two hours later with a final kiss from his girlfriend, who was still taunting him until he was no longer within hearing range. 

Friday found Adrien zoning out in his classes. His mind was wandering to the itinerary he had put in place for the latter half of Saturday. Was it enough? Did he have everything he would need? 

His hand itched to check his phone every few minutes just so he could go over his checklist for the umpteenth time. 

At lunch, Alya had pulled him aside to query about his apprehensiveness. 

“Marinette’s worried about you,” Alya scolded, crossing her arms over her chest. “What’s on your mind?”

“Our one year anniversary,” Adrien blurted, raking a hand through his mussed hair.

Alya quirked an eyebrow, though a smile touched her lips. “You mean the anniversary you’ve been stressing out over for months?”

Adrien’s face heated. “That would be the one,” he mumbled, stuffing his hands into his pockets and staring pointedly down at the ground in shame. 

“Sunshine,” Alya laughed, causing Adrien to pooch his lips, “don’t stress. Mari would love it if you took her to stare at a dumpster fire. It’s going to be fine.” 

A sigh pushed its way from Adrien’s mouth. “I just want it to be perfect. She deserves the world, and I just”—he carded a hand through his hair again—“I want to give it to her.” He met Alya’s gaze.

Alya massaged her temples. “Lord, you two are so disgustingly in love.” 

Adrien’s face caught fire.

“Look,” Alya exhaled, pressing her hands together and pointing at him, “you’ve got this. It doesn’t need to be perfect; Marinette’s not perfect.”

Adrien opened his mouth to argue, but Alya continued, “She’s  _ not _ , and that’s normal. She’s flawed and likes flawed things. Just make what you do special, yeah?” Alya clapped him on the shoulder reassuringly.

Adrien nodded. “Okay, yeah. Thanks, Alya.”

Alya smiled. “Any time. Now, go give your girl some attention.”

Adrien smirked. “Now that I can do.”

*** * ***

Saturday morning found Adrien on Marinette’s doorstep. He rapped on the door, and it opened to Sabine’s beaming face moments later. 

“Adrien,” she exclaimed warmly, pulling him into one of her melting hugs. “Marinette’s been expecting you.” She pulled away, eyes glimmering. “Go down to the bakery.”

Adrien left her company with a croissant and a happy hum in his chest. The bakery appeared to be empty upon first glance, so he made his way to the back, where he found Tom. 

“Adrien, my boy!” Tom boomed jovially, scooping Adrien into his large arms. “How are you?”

“Choking, currently,” Adrien wheezed with a forced smile. 

Tom set Adrien down and took a step back. “Are you looking for Marinette?”

Adrien perked up at her name. “Sure am. Where is she?”

Tom’s smile was knowing. “You just missed her. She left something for you in the bakery, though.” 

Adrien allowed himself to be shooed out of the kitchen. It didn’t take him long to find the heart-shaped piece of paper resting on the counter. 

** _Location 1_ **

_ Adrien, _

_ Happy One Year! I’m excited to be hosting the first half of the day. I’m going to be sending you on a treasure hunt around the city! I know, it’s a little overdone, but I’m under the obvious impression that you love stuff like this, and I love you. ;) _

_ There are only two rules: No cheating, and no tracking me on your baton. I’ll be at the last location with a special surprise for you! Hopefully we’ll be able to wrap everything up by 14:00 since we’re starting at 9:00, but we’ll see. ;p _

_ I’ll get you started now!  _

_ The place we had our first kiss.  _

_ xx, Mari <3 _

Adrien couldn’t have smacked the smile off his own face if he’d wanted to. She knew him so well. 

He took the pink, heart-shaped paper and gently tucked it into his back pocket. The place where they’d shared their first kiss… When? When they’d begun dating? When they couldn’t remember? When he was—

That had to be it. Marinette was a very literal person.

Adrien found himself making his way toward the purification sight of Dark Cupid—one of their first akumas. It had been more than two years now, but Adrien had an inkling that a lot of the references Marinette was going to make would be an even mix of old and new. 

As he was closing in on the fountain, a pink heart came within sight. Adrien beamed as he picked up the letter and opened it. 

** _Location 2_ **

_ Adrien, _

_ I knew you’d figure it out! Hopefully it didn’t take too long… ;) _

_ I love you! Here’s the next location clue! _

_ The place you first confessed your love for me and I believed you. _

_ Think carefully! xx, Mari <3 _

Adrien almost groaned out loud. Was she aware of how many times he had confessed his love for her? 

He folded the card to tuck it into his pocket when he noticed a small comment on the back of the heart. 

_ P.S., you might have to transform to get there. ;) _

_ Well, _ Adrien thought sarcastically, _ that sure narrows it down. _

Was it the Eiffel Tower? No, Marinette wouldn’t pick something so easy. Their patrol meet-up spot? That was probably reserved for a different card, now that he thought about it. 

He decided to duck into an alley and transform—might as well start searching now so he didn’t waste time. 

He wandered aimlessly for what had to be a half hour, mulling over different location possibilities. He didn’t want to get it wrong and go out of order, but he was running out of options. 

Where was the first place he’d confessed to her that was also the same place she’d first believed him?

He found himself two years back in his memory, and suddenly, he remembered. 

His feet found purchase with the roof of the location of the first romantic date he’d ever planned for Ladybug. At the time, the experience had been painful, but now, he looked back on it fondly. He’d naturally gravitated toward Marinette because of  _ course _ he had; she was Marinette. 

He plucked the heart-shaped card taped to the metal railing. 

** _Location 3_ **

_ Adrien, _

_ You found it! I figured this one would be more challenging for you because of how ridiculous you are, but I had faith you’d find it eventually.  _

_ This place is important to me because it was the first time you’d been raw and honest with me without any theatrics. It was also the first time I’d ever really gone home thinking about what being with you, Chat Noir you, romantically would be like.  _

_ I love you! Here’s the next location clue.  _

_ Where we confessed our feelings for one another after revealing our identities. _

_ xx, Mari <3 _

Easy.  _ Too _ easy. Was it a trick? Was Marinette trying to prompt another location to come to mind? 

Regardless, Chat followed his instincts. It was a ten minute run to get there, but, sure enough, he ended up on the front steps of their high school and found the heart-shaped card. 

** _Location 4_ **

_ Adrien, _

_ I bet that was pretty easy, huh? I wanted to throw you for a loop, but I also couldn’t leave this location out.  _

_ Fun fact: This is where I fell in love with you before I knew you were Chat Noir! It was raining, and you gave me your umbrella. I’m not sure if you remember that, but this spot has always held immense importance to me. It only holds more now that it’s the same spot we confessed to one another after having some time for ourselves post-reveal.  _

_ I love you more than words can express. <3 _

_ Here’s the next location clue! _

_ Where you gave me the promise ring. _

_ xx, Mari <3 _

Chat pushed out a happy sigh. What had he done to deserve her? 

He took the excited thrum in his chest with him to her balcony. It was a very quick trip, as the bakery was right across the street from the school, but he was brought up short by the odd sight that met him. 

What was normally Marinette’s balcony looked like… a blanket fort? There was some sort of cloth material acting as a cover to Marinette’s entire balcony; it looped around the chimney and appeared to be pinned down along her balcony railing. 

Chat was relieved when Marinette’s head emerged; he didn’t know where to land. 

She beamed at him and waved. “You found me!” She was wearing a simple red dress and a startling shade of red lipstick that Chat had never seen on her before. Her hair was pulled half-up, and the remaining strands of her hair curled and caught the sun in shades of gleaming blue. Her eyes glimmered brilliantly, and Chat almost mistepped and fell off of the neighboring roof. 

Chat landed carefully on the railing of her balcony, towering over his girlfriend. She craned her head up to meet his gaze. She was startlingly gorgeous up close. 

He stepped down in the open space around her feet. The massive blanket opened up into a small fort filled to the brim with pillows. The blanket overhead was thick enough to warrant the fairy lights clipped along the walls of the makeshift teepee. 

Marinette’s hand came up and pushed Chat’s jaw closed. “Do you like it?” she asked, stepping around him and into the fort with a shy smile. 

Chat fell his mouth fall open again as he stepped further in and continued looking around. She’d truly transformed the space into something magical. 

“Like it?” he queried breathlessly, finally meeting her gaze for a more prolonged moment. “I love it.” 

He released his transformation and cupped her cheek, heart squeezing with joy. She returned his smile and placed her hands on his chest as he leaned in to kiss her. 

“It’s perfect,” he murmured when he pulled away.

Marinette giggled. “You have a little something…” She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him again, but it was fleeting. When she pulled away, her eyes were sparkling and her smile was smug. 

Adrien knew he was blushing a dangerous shade of red as he wiped her lipstick from his lips, but he couldn’t bring himself to care too much. 

“I made us lunch,” Marinette said, and Adrien noticed the food laid out on one of the blankets for the first time. 

“You’re too wonderful,” he sighed, admiring her with unadulterated affection. 

Marinette flushed a lovely shade of pink. “Happy Anniversary, Adrien.” 

Adrien leaned down to kiss her again. “Happy Anniversary, Marinette.”

*** * ***

When it was finally time for Adrien to leave and set everything up for his half of the day, he was nervous. 

It was still relatively warm outside, so Adrien mentally postponed the final event for after the sun had gone down. He ran over his mental checklist for the umpteenth time before releasing a breath. 

He’d quickly gone by his room to change into a more formal outfit—and he’d obviously told Marinette to stay exactly as she was because she was perfect. 

With his casual tuxedo jacket thrown over his shoulder, he ducked into an alley and transformed before vaulting up to Marinette’s balcony to pick her up. 

She stood in the mouth of her blanket fort, a small, black bag hooked around her shoulder in place of her normal bag. A red ‘M’ was stitched into it that mirrored her usual one. 

“Aren’t you just a sight for sore eyes,” he mused, his hand gently coming around her and latching onto Marinette’s hip. 

“You’ve been with me for the last two hours,” Marinette teased, her smile fond.

“And yet I never get tired of looking at you.” He winked, earning him a peck on the lips (to which he almost tipped over in response). 

They bantered for a minute more before Chat remembered his priorities (flirting was one of his favorite priorities when it came to his girlfriend, but he had to snap out of it). 

“It might take a little bit to get there,” Chat said, pushing off the balcony and extending his baton far enough to reach the next roof. “I want to stay out of plain sight.”

Marinette feigned a dramatic gasp. “You mean you  _ don’t _ want tabloids to get their grubby hands on pictures of Chat Noir carrying a mysterious girl in red who may or may not be civilian Ladybug or his girlfriend or both?” 

“Ha-ha,” Chat muttered humorlessly, fighting a smile when Marinette laughed into his neck. 

When he finally dropped down into an alley just across from the Trocadero, Marinette glanced at him curiously. 

“I thought this was a necessary stop,” Adrien stated after releasing his transformation. 

Marinette took a moment to appreciate his dress shirt and the tuxedo jacket that hung over his shoulder. “You look amazing,” she admonished softly, stepping forward and smoothing his tie. 

One of Adrien’s fantasies about them being married in the future surfaced, and he blushed full-force under her speculative gaze. To save himself from saying something stupid, he grabbed Marinette’s hand and dragged her into the late afternoon crowd. 

After a lot of hurried walking, Marinette’s face finally lit up with recognition. 

“André!” she exclaimed, looking between Adrien and the man accompanied by his cart with an excited yet disarming smile. 

Adrien could only wheeze as she began pulling him along. 

When they stopped in front of André’s cart, he yanked his gaze from the last couple he’d just served to address the newcomers. His face lit up when he recognized them. 

“Marinette! Adrien! So happy to see you again!” André sang, capturing the couple in a rather large hug. 

“You, too,” Adrien choked for the second time that day. 

André released them with a flourish and was already scooping them ice cream. “So, what’s the occasion?” 

Adrien glanced at Marinette with a fond smile. “We’re celebrating our One Year Anniversary.”

André froze as if overcome with joy. “That’s wonderful!” he cried jubilantly. “This is on the house. Blueberry for her hair, mint for his eyes, and... cherry for their successful love.” 

Adrien’s face grew warm, though was rather pleased. Marinette took the ice cream from André, her smile shy. “Th-thank you, André! It’s so nice to see you.”

He waved them off, murmuring something about knowing that they were meant to be together under his breath. 

Adrien and Marinette walked around the Trocadero and shared their ice cream, laughing and talking about anything and everything. 

Adrien insisted on taking photos of Marinette at least once a day (they were together pretty much  _ every day) _ and posting them to his Instagram and Twitter accounts. At first, his more avid fans had been aggressive and judgmental of his new girlfriend; as their popularity grew and they became better known as a couple on social media and in real life interactions, however, his fan-base largely became strong shippers of Adrienette, their couple name. Adrien was actually often egged on to post more about his time with Marinette—something he had no qualms with doing.

Of course, she looked stunning in every photo (she was surprisingly photogenic when she just relaxed), and Adrien tweeted one of the pictures of her laughing with ice cream on her nose and captioned it:  _ One year down, many to go. <3 _

It was still late afternoon, and Adrien led Marinette into an alley so they could transform and take to the rooftops. 

“I figured we should take a run to work up a good appetite for dinner,” Chat explained as Ladybug came to stand beside him. 

To his delight, her red lipstick had stuck with her through the transformation—likely thanks to Tikki. It matched her suit to a tee, and her blue eyes remained immensely pronounced against her dark hair and scarlet ensemble. 

Ladybug grinned at him. “You always know how to keep me on my toes, Chaton.”

Chat returned her smile with a lopsided one of his own. “Anything for you, my lady.”

They chased each other around Paris—scaling buildings, taking sharp turns, ducking into crowds to hide (only to be discovered by civilians and swarmed), jumping out at one another and laughing. 

By the time they were both out of breath, the sun had sunk lower and was almost kissing the horizon. 

“I’m starving,” Ladybug announced, standing with her hands on her hips as if she wasn’t winded, but her ragged breathing gave her away. 

Chat collapsed against her back, resting his chin on her shoulder, and Ladybug took on his weight with a small grunt. “You read my mind, Bugaboo.” 

She pushed him off of her and spun to stand in his arms, her hands running along his shoulders admiringly. “Have you been working out?”

Chat’s ego inflated ten-fold, and he could see the regret written all over Ladybug’s face. “Sure have. Are you checking me-owt?” 

She pretended to groan at his pun and try to fall out of his embrace, but he held on tight with a chuckle as if to say ‘you know you love it.’

They descended into an alley across the street from Le Grand Paris and detransformed. To Adrien’s immense relief, the sweat he’d been seemingly  _ dipped _ in in his superhero form faded with the transformation. 

“You’re welcome,” Plagg muttered, drenched in what Adrien had to assume was  _ his _ sweat. 

Adrien scratched Plagg’s head and glanced over to see Marinette kissing one damp, giggling Tikki. “Thanks, Plagg.”

They glided through dinner with little conflict (Chloé had threatened to fight the pastry chef if the chocolate-dipped strawberries weren’t “ _ ridiculously _ perfect”), and Marinette was more than amused by the karaoke display that Nino and Alya put on before joining them for dinner. 

Adrien had originally planned to go to a fancier restaurant where he and Marinette could share a romantic moment, but then he thought long and hard on it and realized that fancy dinners in expensive restaurants didn’t make Marinette smile the same way seeing their best friends scream into microphones did. 

She was even more delighted when they joined her and Adrien for dinner. Chloé eventually sat down in the fifth empty seat at the head of the table, dramatically claiming that ensuring that everything was perfect was exhausting. 

Marinette hugged her affectionately as a thank you, to which Chloé only managed a bashful “whatever.” 

After a couple of hours of talking and laughing and goofing off, Adrien and Marinette bid their friends goodbye and left hand in hand, cheeks aching from smiling. 

“Oh, Adrien,” Marinette sighed happily, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked down the street, “that was so wonderful.”

He could hear the earnesty in her voice, and it lit him up like a firework. 

“I figured it was time to bring in the team of professionals,” he murmured into her ear before kissing her head. 

Adrien ducked into an alley and transformed, glad Plagg had dried off in the past two hours. 

It had to be at least 19:00 by the time Chat was dropping Marinette off on her balcony. 

“Get changed into sweats or something comfortable,” he said, pecking her on the lips before pulling back. “I’ll be back in five.”

Marinette looked oddly pleased. “Sure thing, Kitty.” 

Chat returned in five minutes on the dot. Marinette was already outside waiting for him in one of his (his!) black shirts and a pair of pink cotton shorts that barely covered the tops of her thighs. She had a hoodie—also his, he realized—tied around her waist and her regular shoulder bag slung across her torso. 

“Ravishing as always,” he remarked honestly, hooking his hand around her hip with a wink.

“I guess you could say I know how to make you purr.” Her winning grin could have knocked him on his ass if she’d wanted it to.

He leaned in closer. “And who are you wearing on this fine evening?”

She smirked. “Agreste.  _ Adrien _ Agreste.”

He couldn’t help but swoon. “Say it louder, princess. I don’t think the people in the back heard you.” He held up a pretend microphone for her to speak into, and she laughed into his shoulder. 

“Adrien Agreste,” she repeated, eyes gleaming happily, “you know, the dork?” 

“I do,” Chat chuckled, kissing her nose. “And he’s got something to show you.”

Chat kept glancing down at Marinette to read her facial expressions as he vaulted closer and closer to the intended target area. Her expression morphed into one of surprise as Chat surreptitiously landed in the Parc des Princes, Paris’ massive soccer stadium. It also happened to be the first location where Ladybug and Chat Noir had ever fought an akuma.

Marinette gazed around in confusion until she spotted the gigantic projector screen and the mountain of blankets and pillows on the ground. There was also a small snack table with any and every snack Marinette adored. 

Chat Noir detransformed and bashfully stuffed his hands into the pockets of the hoodie he was wearing. “Happy Anniversary, Mari.”

Marinette spun on him and jumped, wrapping her legs around his waist as she peppered his face in kisses. “It’s perfect,” she breathed, eyes swimming with warmth. 

Every nerve in Adrien’s body sang as he gazed up at her. “Only the best for you, m’lady.” 

It was then that Marinette spotted the array of balls and other toys to the left of the set-up. She touched down to the turf field with a competitive gleam in her eyes. 

They played keep-away with a soccer ball for as long as they could without rolling on the floor laughing at one another before moving on to throwing a frisbee, which Adrien threw so hard that it sailed across the entire field and got stuck in the stands. They then proceeded to fence with pool noodles; it had seemed like a fun idea when he had put them there, but Marinette kept whipping hers against his backside in an illegal ploy to simultaneously beat and embarrass him. 

Stars soon descended upon the rapidly darkening sky, the pink and orange sunset they’d been admiring on the way over nowhere in sight. 

Marinette and Adrien decided to lay down after Adrien had tackled Marinette to the ground and tickled the life out of her. They were both breathing heavily, but the smiles donning their faces were unmatched. 

“Movie?” Adrien asked, grabbing her hand and looking at her.

“Movie,” Marinette agreed, threading their fingers together and squeezing gently. 

Adrien had brought an array of discs, to which Marinette picked from and he set up. They watched the movie (“The Princess and the Frog”) for the most part, only getting distracted by one another a few times throughout the entire thing. 

Adrien awoke suddenly to tangled limbs and credits rolling on the projector screen. He glanced down to see that Marinette was still sleeping soundly, a small smile on her face. 

Adrien wished they could stay, but he hadn’t rented out the stadium for the entire night. The cleaning crew would be showing up in—Adrien checked his watch—an hour or so to clean everything up, and they couldn’t be here for that. 

“C’mon,” he murmured tiredly after transforming, picking Marinette up bridal-style and cushioning her head against his chest. She stirred lightly, but only to nuzzle against him and smile a little wider. 

He carried her home as smoothly as he could and was proud to find that she was still asleep when he landed on her balcony. 

Chat sidestepped all of the pillows still remaining from earlier in the day and miraculously opened the trapdoor to Marinette’s bedroom with his foot. He slowly lowered himself in and pulled back the sheet with his knees. Marinette nestled into the covers, and Chat took that as his cue to leave.

“Wait,” she said groggily, gripping his arm. He turned to see that her eyes had barely fluttered open. “Stay.”

He happily complied, releasing his transformation and settling beneath the covers with her warm body pressed against his. She rested her head on his chest and mumbled, “I love you.”

Adrien squeezed his eyes shut and wondered if he’d ever get used to hearing her say that. “I love you, too. Happy Anniversary, Marinette.”

She was already asleep, but her throwing a leg over his was answer enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This was such a fun piece to write, and I really enjoyed it. Happy Romance Awareness Month! ;) 
> 
> Xoxo, J.


End file.
